


A Quarter Century Plus One

by Ink_Gypsy



Category: LOTR RPS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-28
Updated: 2010-01-28
Packaged: 2017-10-06 18:51:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Gypsy/pseuds/Ink_Gypsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the morning of his twenty-sixth birthday, Elijah looks back on his life and is amazed by how many ways getting the role of Frodo changed it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Quarter Century Plus One

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Elijah's 26th birthday, January 28, 2007.

He woke up early. He'd always done that on his birthday when he was a child, much to the chagrin of his parents, not wanting to miss even a moment of his special day. But he wasn't a child anymore. He was twenty-six. A quarter of a century plus one. It didn't seem possible, and yet it was true.

Getting out of bed quietly, he went to the bureau and opened the bottom drawer. With the first light of dawn illuminating the bedroom, he reached in and put his hand on what he wanted without having to search. When people asked him about it -- and it amazed him how they never tired of the question -- he always told them it was packed away somewhere but he didn't know exactly where. That was a lie, of course. It was a treasured possession, and he always kept it close at hand. When he was still living at his mother's house, then in the apartment in New York, and now in his own home, it always occupied the same place in the bureau drawer.

He took out the small, square box and just looked it at, marveling at its simplicity. Not etched in gold, or lined with satin. Just an ordinary ring box. He opened it and looked inside. The ring was still on its chain. He lifted it out of the box and let the simple gold band dangle. There was no need to put it on. Just seeing it was enough to flood him with memories. He'd been eighteen when he first put the chain around his neck. Realizing that was eight years ago was almost as impossible to believe as his age.

When he boarded the plane for New Zealand, he never imagined it would change his life forever. He'd never worked so hard in his life, but the rewards had been many. Living on his own for the first time. Making friendships that would last a lifetime. The role he played making him a household name had been a surprise, and he'd found it overwhelming at first, but he'd enjoyed the roller coaster ride, and been appreciative of the opportunities it had brought him as an actor.

The role of a lifetime had brought him something else unexpected, something for which he would always be grateful. He put the ring back into its box and the box back into the drawer, then got back into bed, sliding under the covers and returning to the position he'd been in before he'd gotten up.

There was movement beside him and a groggy voice said, "It's early yet, Elijah. Why are you awake?"

He snuggled against the warmth radiating from the sturdy body and answered simply, "It's my birthday, Seanie."


End file.
